‘We share GMA’s vision of some, maybe even higher growth’

National President
Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Associations

"We can approach the coming year with a reasonable expectation of achieving reasonable growth, maybe even higher growth" was how President Arroyo described last week her government’s optimism in the new year. And we can only share our national leader’s vision and hope, taking the cues from the past year’s record.

For instance, by NEDA’s report, the gross domestic product (GDP) – which measures total value of all goods and services produced in the economy – grew by an average of 2.9 percent in the first three quarters. The local record becomes significant when compared with those of countries in the region. Indonesia’s 2.4 percent, South Korea’s 1.8 percent, Thailand’s 1.5, Hong Kong’s 0.3, Singapore’s —0.5, Malaysia’s – 1.3, and Taiwan’s –4.2. Thus, our economy advanced despite the slowdown in major global economies.

The forecast for the entire 2001 is 3.3 percent which, the government is confident, will be reached. The President gave credit for the record to the government’s macro-economic plan anchored on a combination of economic fundamentals to support a sound fiscal and debt position, stable prices, healthy balance of payments levels and steady flow of investments for job creation and further stimulation.

The administration’s team put a ceiling on fiscal deficit, held down inflation and interest rates, and curbed speculation against the peso. As a result, she reported, economic growth was pushed by personal consumption which grew by 3.3 percent and investment by 5.1 percent.

We are glad that, despite the lowered export receipts in view of the global slowdown, the peso-dollar rate remained stable. What’s more, a strong reserve position, a dynamic service sector, large agricultural base, remittances from overseas Filipino workers kept domestic consumption healthy. These, President Arroyo enthused, softened the export plunge and resulted in a resilient economy. Foreign direct investments, mostly in telecommunications and manufacturing, added up to P132 billion by November, or higher than the projected P100 billion for the whole 2001.

The housing and construction sector, we hope, will soon be re-energized in the next few months. There is basis for this expectation. The Macapagal-Arroyo administration has focused on the housing program as one of its vital priorities and the housing agencies are exerting their level-best to chalk up gains in the war against homelessness. Congress is responding with the needed legislative measures for the purpose.

The role of housing development need not be overemphasized. The current housing backlog is estimated at more than four million units, particularly for the underprivileged and middle-class families.

The sector, government’s economic planners know, plays a major impact on overall economic growth by stimulating scores of other industries and creating more employment opportunities for our people.